1870 miles, 80 packages, 2 dogs, 24 queries, 429 votes, 13 jobs and ...
an unconventional year in review
For the past few years, I've done the fairly standard "year in review" type post that a lot of writers do, where I tally up how much I've earned from freelancing, the number of pitches I sent out, and so on. You can see my posts from 2018, 2019 and 2020 here.
But as I was reflecting on my 2021, I ran into a frustration I often feel, which is that my achievements in any one area are limited by the fact that there are so many damn areas. I have a full-time job; I'm doing research for a book (theoretically!); I'm writing fiction (also theoretical); I have an Etsy shop; oh, and I'm also a mom, a wife, a pet owner, a homeowner, etc. And it's a goddamn pandemic! (Still!!!)
So this year, I wanted a year in review that reflects a fuller scope of what I did, not just as a writer, but as a whole person — and look back on what stands out to me about 2021. Here's what I came up with:
1870 miles
I wrote here about my crazy summer of driving my kid all across hell's half-acre, but I hadn't added up the miles until now, and all I can say is Y I K E S. This experience — and hearing some of the struggles of other parents in the area — has galvanized me to try to organize and advocate for a better, more comprehensive summer recreation program in my local school district. (I don't really know how to organize but I'm trying!) Participating in The Barnraisers Project earlier this year really inspired me, but I still have a tremendous amount to learn about effective organizing and what it might look like in my community. I hope by this time next year, I'll have learned more and made some progress toward my goal of a fully funded, comprehensive K-5 summer recreation program available to all students in my local school district. In the meantime, I highly recommend Barnraisers to anyone and I'm happy to chat more about my experience if you're curious!
80 Packages
I haven't written about it much, but I've been selling vintage clothes and accessories on Etsy for nearly 10 years (my shop is Bread and Roses Vintage — message me for a coupon code!), and it's something I really love doing. My shop is SMALL, and my work on it has always gotten squeezed in around the corners of the rest of my life. I've been toting my kid around to local thrift shops and rummage sales since she was a baby, and when they got shut down with everything else during the pandemic, I really felt the pinch.
Eighty orders isn't a lot — in fact, it's the exact same number of orders I processed back in 2012, my first year as a brand-new baby Etsy seller who didn't know anything about anything. But when I look at my Etsy stats, I can see how they fluctuate in response to other things. When I write more, I do less Etsy stuff, and vice versa. I'm setting myself a modest goal to sell more in 2022, but I really don't know if it will happen — and that's OK.
2 dogs
I wrote here about my uncomfortable experiences fostering two different dogs this year. While all that was going on, nothing else was getting done. Laundry piled up, my Etsy shop sat dormant, I didn't think any writing thoughts or read any books. But I got to foster two cute dogs, and that was its own experience. (Real dogs not pictured above.) My family is still on a hunt for the Dog of our Hearts — I'm convinced that s/he is out there somewhere, but whether we make that connection in 2022 is anyone's guess.
429 votes
2021 was also the year I decided to run for local office, an absolutely terrifying but extremely enriching experience. (If you're reading this, you should run for local office. Seriously. If you're not convinced, please read "Somebody's Gotta Do It" by Adrienne Martini, then take a minute to see when the filing deadlines are for your local city council, school board, village board, etc. Get a petition and RUN. I'm not kidding.) I went into the race not thinking I could win, which proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as such things often are. My campaign was pretty lackluster, if I'm honest. I was humbled to see how hard most of my fellow Democrats were working to get out the vote, compared to the little I was doing. Yet somehow, even my lackluster campaign sucked up a lot of my time and mental energy, causing my book proposal to once again take a back seat.
But even the little I did was wonderfully rewarding. Even losing was rewarding. I met some people, got to talk about some issues that matter to me, got a better understanding of what's going on in my community, and I made sure that voters had a choice — which is better than the alternative of an incumbent running unopposed.
I was about to say that I'm not sure if I'll run again, but that's not exactly true. I'm sure that I will run again, someday, for something. It might not be for county board. But I strongly and firmly believe that I can and should be engaged in local government, and that we all should, in whatever way we're able. It's not easy, but it is sometimes fun, and most of all, it's extremely important. (Again: see Adrienne's book if you're unclear as to why it matters so much.) So I should run again, and you should run too. Yes, you.
24 queries
Despite all of that, I did put a lot of work into my book proposal this year, sending it out to 24 agents and getting mostly silence in return, with a few "no"s sprinkled in. This was discouraging, obviously, and at some point I realized I needed to go back to the drawing board and see if I should be writing a different book than the one I thought I wanted to write.
That thought alone was so depressing that I spent at least one month of 2021 just sulking and not doing any work on my proposal at all, if I'm honest. But within the past month or two, I have drafted a new outline, and I have some thoughts about how to move forward. (I think.) I also applied for a residency in hopes of carving out some more time to work on this project in 2022, so please cross your fingers and toes that I get accepted! (A highly unlikely outcome, but you never know.)
13 jobs
This is a low-ball estimate, based on the number of Google Docs I found in my "cover letters" folder that were dated 2021; I feel like I have actually applied for ONE ZILLION jobs. My goal is to find a full-time remote position that I could keep when/if I'm able to move back to Oregon to be closer to my mom and dad. I am beginning to wonder if I'm bad at writing cover letters or if my resume sucks, because I think I'm a pretty good employee, but I just cannot get hired anywhere. I'm also getting paranoid about being too old to get hired after reading articles like this one, to the point that I took all the dates off my resume :( But I've called off the hunt for now because ...
1 promotion
... I am really proud to say that I closed out 2021 by accepting a promotion at work! Starting today, I am an assistant manager (not assistant to the regional manager) on my Communications team! (Cue trumpet fanfare.) So I have paused my job hunt for 2022 so I can devote myself to this new role.
I have been working for my organization for more than five years, but when I started this job as a public information specialist, I felt like I was starting my career over again after 13 years in a newsroom, and it was kind of scary. One concern I had was that I had left a management-level position for an associate-level role, which felt in some ways like a step backward on my resume (see above concerns about hireability!). So it's a huge relief and a great honor to step back into a management position.
Moving from journalism to communications is a really well-trod path, but I continue to be grateful for how much I am learning and growing in this role. I hope that this promotion will allow me to continue that growth (2021 was also the year I started working toward my Accreditation in Public Relations, or APR, with hopes of sitting for my panel presentation in 2022) and to give as much back to my work as I have taken from it.
I would love to hear what stands out about your 2021. What did you survive? What did you do a lot of? What was new? What did you start or finish? As always, I'm delighted to have you as a reader (2021 was also the year I started this newsletter!), and if you're new here, I hope you'll consider subscribing.